Professor A J Brown of Australia’s Griffith University led research which found the New Zealand public sector’s systems for handling whistleblowers compared poorly to those in Australia.

When compared to the six Australian states, the New Zealand laws ranked above only Tasmania.

The Ombudsman is one of the authorities a whistleblower can approach with concerns.

Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier said the Protected Disclosure Act needed “a shot of adrenaline” and had never received the necessary support.

“I will want to start next year with an application for funding for a full time position in my office, to be available to answer enquiries on the Protected Disclosure Act,” he said.

Boshier said whistleblowing was not delivering the results he would like, which was demonstrated in the “enormous” amount of fraud coming from employees, particularly in the public sector.

“When you look at our history and the sheer amount of money we are losing, from people doing things unnoticed, surely we have problem,” he said.

“You have to ask how it wasn’t detected by someone else who might have blown the whistle. Were they scared? Did they not know? Where there no systems in place?”

The recent case of Ministry of Transport staffer Joanne Harrison revealed she stole more than $725,000 to pay off credit cards and her mortgage.

According to Brown’s newly-released report, titled Strength of Organisational Whistleblowing Processes, 30 per cent of New Zealand’s public agencies had no system in place for recording and tracking concerns, and 23 per cent had no support strategy for staff.

Only 36 per cent of agencies provided staff with a management-designated support person, and only one in five had processes for compensation or restitution if a whistleblower suffered negative outcomes.

Boshier said the Act did not require government agencies to have any set support or structure in place to deal with whistleblowers, but he would not be pushing for an overhaul of the Act itself.

“Our job, alongside the State Services Commission, is to provide structures and guidance, and give this the profile it should have,” he said.

New Zealand shares first-equal standing with Denmark in the Transparency International Index.

Boshier said Kiwis had benefited from their non-corrupt image, both in reputation and attractiveness to business.

“To maintain this position, we must have best practice whistleblowing processes. People have to know they are safe and will not suffer detriment if they speak up about wrongdoing in the workplace, and that their concerns will be heard and acted upon if needed.”

Brown said Kiwis were “lucky” to be rated so highly on transparency, but without overhaul of the Protected Disclosure Act they were gambling on goodwill to keep corruption at bay.

Brown said over the last decade, Australia had seen overhauls of protected disclosure legislation in most states, however New Zealand had seen no substantial amendments since 2000.

Amendments to the Act should focus on increasing procedural requirements for dealing with disclosures, protection of whistleblowers, support and compensation measures, Brown said.

The next stage of the research will involve looking at individual instances of protect disclosure, and will examine in greater depth how New Zealand organisations manage the reporting of wrongdoing.

The Society’s 2017 (Members Only) AGM will be held on Friday night from 7.30 p.m. to 8.15 p.m.

Following the AGM a presentation will be given by guest speaker (TBA) on the subject of Voluntary Euthanasia – Assisted Suicide dealt with in the proposed the End-of-Life Choice Bill, sponsored by ACT MP David Seymour.

I know first-hand how painful it is to watch a loved one deteriorate and die.

However, I feel frustrated by the emphasis the current assisted suicide debate puts on the terminally ill.

Rhetoric about how the terminally ill need assisted dying is only a way to manipulate our emotions and soften up society for the real agenda: legal assisted suicide for everyone. The pro-euthanasia lobby wants suicide to be regarded as normal, acceptable and rational. Their only objection is that “suicide is violent” – not that it’s to be prevented and discouraged in principle. In fact, it should be facilitated for anyone who “wants to die”.

Recently euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke appealed his medical deregistration in response to his involvement in the suicide of a 45-year old depressed but healthy man. Nitschke’s lawyer said in his opening address the case was about “the dangerous idea [of] whether a person who is contemplating rational suicide ought to be required by a medical doctor not to do so”..

He implied that if a person had a good reason to want to die, a doctor should not intervene.

Since suffering is subjective and universal, any suicidal person would have a rationale for wanting to die. Terminal illness is only one of many possibilities.

The slogans with “choose to die”, “die on one’s own terms” and “right to control the timing and manner of one’s death” apply to suicide and by definition, rights apply to everyone.

Last June I asked Maryan Street at a public forum: “If this right applies to everyone, why are there conditions in your bill?”

She replied that suicide was legal, but assisted suicide was illegal, so to change the law there had to be conditions.

The End-of-Life Choice Bill proposes legal assisted suicide for anyone over 18 who has an irreversible physical or mental medical condition and understands that a request will result in death. This would include disability, chronic illness, mental illness, depression and ageing-related conditions. Effectively, any adult could be eligible.

The essence of the assisted dying debate is whether anyone who wants to die should be allowed to kill themselves. [Read more…]

Unicef releases damning child welfare report

New Zealand frequently sits at the top when it comes to international rankings in tourism and economics. A new Unicef report has ranked us number one in another global measure. This is not one to celebrate.

New Zealand has topped the global teen suicide rankings, again.

Our position in the world was cemented on Thursday by a Unicef report that called into question the wellbeing of Kiwi kids.

The Innocenti Report found New Zealand’s rate for teen suicides (15-19) was the highest of the 41 OECD and EU countries included. We also came in 38th out of 41 countries when it came to overall health and wellbeing of our young people.

Meanwhile, Portugal topped the list at the right end, with a teen suicide rate of 1.7 per 100,000. Italy and Spain were close behind.

The report put New Zealand’s teen suicide rate of 15.6 people per 100,000, based on data from 2010. The rate had dropped slightly from the previous comparable report that used 2005 data but more recent figures show we were now headed in the other direction.

Provisional suicide statistics released by the Coroner’s Office, show 51 (16.02 per 100,000) people in the age group died by suicide in the year to June 2016 and 52 (16.41 per 100,000) the previous year..

In an average week two young people would kill themselves, and about 20 young people would be hospitalised for self-harm, according to Youthline.

Act Party leader David Seymour says he believes he has the numbers to at least get his voluntary euthanasia bill past the first hurdle.

Speaking after his private member’s bill was pulled from the ballot today, Seymour said 40 MPs had indicated they would support it, while 27 said they would oppose it. Another 50 had said they were undecided.

He needs 61 votes for a majority at the first reading. While that is likely to take place before the September election, Seymour did not expect it to pass through all stages under the current Parliamentary term.

Parliament is also set to debate another conscience issue, legalising medical cannabis, after a bill in the

Her bill will exempt anyone with a qualifying medical condition to cultivate, possess or use cannabis for therapeutic purposes, if they have the support of a registered medical practitioner.

Seymour said he was delighted Parliament would debate voluntary euthanasia. He turned down a ministerial portfolio to focus on the issue.

“This is morally, democratically and legally the right thing for Parliament to do,” he told reporters at a press conference this afternoon.

While he believed some MPs may try to filibuster the legislation, he believed it could pass later this year under the next government.